Suggested Fix
No Improvement
In her article "Finding
and Fixing the Passive Voice" (July 2007),
Megan McAlpin writes: "For example, you may find that you have written the
following: ‘All pay raises must be approved by the board of directors.’ ...Since
the board of directors must approve the raise, you can transform your sentence
from the passive to the active as follows: ‘The board of directors must
approve all pay raises.’"

In my opinion, Ms. McAlpin’s suggested change to avoid
the passive voice only highlights the ambiguityof the original sentence, which
she apparently overlooked, because her change now points out that it could
mean that the board of directors has no discretion in approving any requested
pay raise, although, of course, one could argue that that ambiguity is also
present in the original. The bottom line is that, in my humble opinion, the
rewritten sentence is no improvement and actually emphasizes the ambiguity
even more.

Lou Parker,
Phoenix, Ariz.

Playing the Patriot, Part IIIPerhaps Congress
should investigate the purpose and intended scope of an executive order issued
July 17, 2007, entitled "Blocking Property
of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." Is it
a bona fide tool to fight the terrorist threat posed by persons "who
might have a constitutional presence in the United States"? Or is it a
disguised attempt by this administration to stifle anti-war dissent protected
by the First Amendment?

Consider this scenario: Your client shows you an unsigned notice
from the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury declaring that a "blocking
order" has been placed on your client’s "property and interests
in property . . . in the United States," pursuant to the executive order.
No warning was given.

Your client informs you that last month he attended an Iraq anti-war
demonstration and donated $25 by check to the Bring the Troops Home Committee
(BTTHC).

You call the Treasury Department and are told that BTTHC is a "listed" organization
determined to be "undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction
and political reform in Iraq." You ask why no notice and opportunity for
a hearing was afforded to your client before the blocking order took effect.
You are told that under the executive order, the government is not obliged
to issue prior notice of a listing or determination made.

You file suit for injunctive relief. The government files a motion
to dismiss, reciting that the executive order precludes your lawsuit, including "any
right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law
or in equity by any party against the United States."

Your client informs you that family members who lent him money
for your fee have now received blocking orders.

Congress may want to investigate whether the statutes relied
upon for this executive order, listed in the order itself, authorize its issuance.
If so, Congress should consider revisiting the enabling acts to assure that
proper due-process safeguards are afforded to U.S. citizens.

Philip F. Schuster I,
Portland

Why No Mention of Alternatives to Billable Hours?
I write in response to the article "End
Billable Hour Goals … Now" by
Lawrence J. Fox in the August/September 2007 issue.

I read the seven-page article with considerable interest because
the elimination of hourly billing by lawyers has been the subject of much debate
in bar associations for many years. Although many people would agree with Mr.
Fox’s criticisms of hourly billing, finding alternatives thereto has
been elusive. Much to my astonishment Mr. Fox did not identify a single alternative.

Dentists and physicians have been able to attach values to procedures
that they repeat often, based on a number of factors, primarily the amount
of time estimated, and lawyers have been able to do so with specific tasks
such as drafting wills. It has proved much more difficult to come up with alternatives
to time billing, without putting either the client or lawyer at substantial
risk, where protracted litigation or negotiation is involved.

The task of coming up with alternatives is further complicated
by the demands of house counsel and insurance companies that time billing at
particular rates be utilized and by case law requiring courts to consider time
as the primary factor in ruling on attorney fee requests.

One would have thought that an article with the words "end
billable hour goals" in its title would have at least mentioned some alternatives
thereto.

Peter M. Appleto,Salem

Poetry Appreciation
Thank you for printing Joshua Randall Trigsted’s poem, "Bankruptcy," in
the latest edition of the Bulletin. (Briefs, Aug./Sept. 2007). It was
refreshing to see and I hope, as another lawyer/poet, that you will see fit
to print other poems in issues to come.

Ronald G. Talney,Lake Oswego

Correction
The July 2007 Bulletin’s Bar Counsel column, "The
Ethics of Unbundling," by Helen Hierschbiel,contains a mistake. The
first paragraph, second sentence on page 10 incorrectly states: "The fact
of assistance to a pro se litigant is material to the merits of the litigation." The
correct information is, in fact, just the opposite. The fact of assistance
to a pro se litigant is not material to the merits of the litigation.